


like when you said you felt so happy you could die

by craftingdead



Series: charlie will make cd a common tag if it kills them [28]
Category: The Crafting Dead
Genre: DESPITE WHAT THE TITLE SUGGESTS this is actually some good shit i promise, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, yall deserve it by now im sorry fgbhdj
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2020-05-19 04:45:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19349755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/craftingdead/pseuds/craftingdead
Summary: “You know,” Ghetto said, his hand intertwined with Nick’s, “I think we just might make it.”





	like when you said you felt so happy you could die

**Author's Note:**

> I'M SORRY FOR THE TITLE but i really like the song and kept listening to the instrumental   
> somebody that i used to know - gotye

Jordan buried his face in Ghetto’s chest as he lifted the kid up, relief filling every inch of his body until it threatened to burst with happiness.

“You guys came for me,” he mumbled, stifled by Ghetto’s coat and his face buried into it. In the back of his mind, he noted Nick’s arms curling around Jordan too, and the kid sighing contently and grinning dangerously wide into his coat.

“Of course we did, J-Man, we couldn’t leave our favorite tiger behind, could we?”

Nick’s shoulders were shaking as Ghetto put Jordan down—who then immediately latched himself to his leg. “I thought you guys were never going to come. The mean men say that you weren’t so I started to believe it.” He was crying, the poor kid. Nick looked vaguely horrified, clutching onto Ghetto’s arm. “But you guys did come! You—y-you proved them wrong, all of them. And now I’m safe!”

“Yeah.” Ghetto shook him off his leg and crouched down in front of Jordan, smiling. “Yeah, you’re safe now. And neither Nick nor I will let anything happen to you ever, ever again. Isn’t that right, Nick?”

“Right,” Nick squeaked out, face covered by his hand.

“Are you crying?”

“Shove off,” he responded, voice cracking. 

Ghetto snickered, got up, then opened up his arms. “Aww, come on, man. Give me a hug. I know you want to. You’re getting a hug whether you want one or not,” he added, as Jordan giggled through shaking arms and shoulders.

“I’ll—I’ll be fine. W-we still need to get out of here, who knows when Red’s guys or whatever could be back.” Nick (attempted to) discreetly wipe his face.

Ghetto’s face soured, and he dropped his arms with a huff. “Fine. But the moment we get back, you’re gonna get a hug. Come on, let’s get out of here.” Once again he scooped up Jordan, the kid’s exhaustion settling in as he slumped against his shoulder, curling small arms around his neck and small legs around his waist. God… it made him fucking furious, how a person like whoever the hell this “Red” was would treat a child.

“Thank you for saving me,” Jordan breathed as they snuck out, waiting for AK and Shark on the cold streets of Greenfield. Jordan’s teeth were chattering, and even Ghetto was shivering for whatever reason.

“No one should have to go through that,” Nick said, and then took Ghetto’s hand and squeezed it.

* * *

“Ghetto?” Nick said, pushing open his door. “Are you doing alright?”

“I’m fine, Nick,” he said in response. He liked Nick and everything… but this was starting to get annoying. He was fucking fine, okay? And it was the middle of the goddamn night. The only reason he was even still up was because he agreed to take the second watch. “Shouldn’t you be in bed, or something? I just got off watch, so I have an excuse.”

“I couldn’t sleep,” Nick said, then walked over to sit next to him on the bed. Ghetto huffed out an annoyed breath, “sorry for bothering you.”

“It’s fine.”   


“You know,” Nick continued, and Ghetto groaned internally, “AK brought up how he found this little store that held tons of trinkets in it—and that there was a spot next to it that held fireworks. I bet we could scare the shit out of him with it.”

Ghetto looked at him. Nick wasn’t looking at him, but instead looking down at his hands. He hadn’t noticed until now, but there were faint bags underneath his eyes, and his whole body screamed of exhaustion. Ghetto got good sleep, but only because staying up, doing nothing required him to be thinking about something. And it was never fun when his thoughts wandered. “Why would we want to do that? I mean, I’m always up for scaring AK, but why would you bring it up? Aren’t you supposed to be a saint.”

“I just thought it would make you happy,” Nick said.

“Oh.”

“I l—you’re my friend, and I hate you see you like this. I’m sorry for bringing it up, it probably doesn’t do any good, but…” Nick trailed off. “I just wanted to see you more… lively again. I’m sorry, Ghetto, I’ll go, you should get to sleep—”

Ghetto lunged forward and hugged him, Nick letting out a small shriek of surprise. It took a deep breath in, but then he relaxed, melting into Ghetto’s arms and hugging back. “It’s fine,” Ghetto mumbled into his hair, his hands placed firmly on the back of his head and curve of his back, heart leaping into his throat as Nick curled up into him. “You have nothing you should be apologizing for.”

* * *

Ghetto could still feel the ghost of Nick’s lips on his own as he dragged himself back into the CDC. No one was out on guard, which wasn’t surprising, on nights like these, but it still made him unnecessarily angry.  _ Don’t you have people you need to fucking protect? Don’t you have someone to watch out for? _

No one was in the hallways either, when he first walked in, but that was because it was the stretch of time before night and the dawn when people finally started stirring. He knew it like clockwork. From Nick describing it to him, actually. “I’ve had more than enough sleepless nights to tell,” he said when Ghetto questioned him about it. Maybe he should have spent more fucking time with Nick on those sleepless nights.

Gray wasn’t his office, so Ghetto ripped a piece of paper off from some paperwork or whatever, he could care less at this point, and wrote three words on it:  _ Nick is dead. _

Then, he stumbled out of the room, his head a mess, his heart longing, and tried to find his way back to his room. Or—or Nick’s. Whichever one came first. He… he couldn’t quite remember at this point, everything was starting to blend together.

He turned a corner right into a group of Shark, AK, Jess, and Barney.

“G—Ghetto?” Shark gasped, once he realized who the hell it was. “You—you’re back, holy shit! Where have you been? Where has Nick been—where is Nick, by the way?”

“Is that blood?” Jess asked, eyes widening, as she shouldered her way past Shark and pointed to his shirt and jacket. “Are you okay? Do you need one of us to call one of the doctors or something? Jesus Christ, Ghetto, you and Nick scared the shit out of us!”

“Hey—hey now,” AK added, “let the man breath and explain everything that happened. Is that good with you, Ghetto?” He said, giving him a pointed look. The rest of them shut up and scrambled back, except for Shark, who was still standing in front of him and with Jess still eyeing his shirt.

He could explain everything. Watch as he explained what happened to Nick, what Ross did. He would leave out the last part, of course, since that was his to fucking hold and cradle—no one got to have what he and Nick had,  _ and no one would get to know what he and Nick had. _ He could say he was tired, and that he would explain in the morning. Hell, Ghetto could even pretend like he hit his head somewhere and couldn’t remember anything, or that he wanted to talk to Gray first, or Xavier, or Jin. He could say all of that. 

Instead, he shoved Shark to the side by his shoulder and said, “Fuck off,” in a scathing tone that wasn’t faked or fraud. 

“What?” Shark said, turning to look at him, surprised. Jess’s face turned from worry into annoyance, crossing her arms and scowling.

“I said—all of you, fuck off, and leave me alone!” he snapped back and stormed down the hall. Fuck. Then he realized that to properly get to his room, he would’ve needed to take the turn that came up right about when he was cornered.

That only left one option.

He sped up his walking, not wanting any of them to catch up with him if they were following, and almost tripped as he slammed open and slammed shut Nick’s door, feeling his breath catch on his throat as he looked around the room. Clothes folded messily on drawers and books on the floor and a stupid fucking stuffed animal Ghetto jokingly got for Nick that he ended up keeping forever tucked underneath the covers because  _ of course _ Nick would tuck in his stuffed animals because that was just the kind of  _ fucking person _ Nick was and now he would never get to do that again and Ghetto could never be with him ever again and he could never run with Shelby through the halls or make Jin hot cocoa when he was down or cheer up AK when he was even downer or, or, or—

Ghetto crumpled to the floor, a sob catching in his throat.

“I loved him,” Ghetto whispered to himself. “I fucking loved him.” And he’d never get to see Nick again. Never hold him in his arms. Never feel him crawl into his bed when he couldn’t sleep because the only place Nick  _ ever  _ seemed to feel safe was by Ghetto’s side.

He was going to fucking kill Doctor Ross. 

_ “You know,” Ghetto said, his hand intertwined with Nick’s, “I think we just might make it.” _

_ I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I love you, I love you, I love you. _


End file.
